Belarusian Studies

Belarus 2012: The Paradox of Europe and its Relations with the EU and Russia

by Sotirios Karampampas

published in Research Program on Foreign Policy, Defence & Security, Center of Russia, Eurasia & Southern Europe (CERE), Institute of International Relations (IIR), vol. 6, pp. 10-15.

Рецензия: Ростислав Алиев. Брестская крепость. Воспоминания и документы. Москва 2010. (Спекуляции вместо серьезного исследования)

by Christian Ganzer

После того, как многие высказали желание прочитать рецензию на более доступном языке, чем белорусский, я решил поставить онлайн и русскую версию.

Rezension: Rostislav Aliev: Brestskaja krepost'. Vospominanija i dokumenty. [Brester Festung. Erinnerungen und Dokumente] Moskau 2010.

by Christian Ganzer

After many people asked for a more readable version of this text thаn the Belarusian translation that was published in ARCHE journal in 11/2011 I decided to upload the German original. A Russian translation will follow soon.

From roses to bullets: the rise and decline of post-Soviet colour revolutions

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

with Abel Polese (2008)

In: Backes, Uwe and Jaskulowski, Tytus and Polese, Abel, (eds.) 2008. Totalitarianism and Transformation: Central and Eastern Europe between Socialist Legacy and Democratic Transformation (Totalitarismus und Transformation Defizite der Demokratiekonsolidierung in Mittel- und Osteuropa). Schriften des Hannah-Arendt-Instituts für Totalitarismusforschung, Band 37 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, pp. 63-100.

ISBN 978-3525369111

The Color Revolution Virus and Authoritarian Antidotes

by Donnacha Ó Beacháin

(with Abel Polese) Demokratizatsiya; Spring2011, Vol. 19 Issue 2, pp. 111-132

This paper addresses the post-Communist color revolution phenomenon, utilizing aspects of all the major approaches... more This paper addresses the post-Communist color revolution phenomenon, utilizing aspects of all the major approaches (structure, agency, diffusion). It surveys the varying degrees of success enjoyed by color revolutionary movements and demonstrates that the color revolutions involved a learning process not only for insurgent forces but for the state that such forces aimed to dislodge. Furthermore, it illuminates the factors that facilitated opposition movements to exploit popular disenchantment, framed in the context of contentious elections, and to transform these protests into a force capable of dislodging the regime. We argue that the ability of potentially vulnerable regimes to observe and digest the reasons for initial color revolution successes assisted them in resisting the further spread of the phenomenon. Accordingly, we maintain there is a strong correlation between the attitudes of a regime-in particular its capacity to produce a backlash-and the failure of a color revolution.

Challenging Authoritarian Rule: Opposition Strategies in Belarus

by Matthew Frear

ASN 17th Annual World Convention, 20 April 2012, New York

Спекуляцыі замест сур'ёзнага даследавання.

by Christian Ganzer

Review: Rostislav Aliev: Brestskaya krepost'. Dokumenty i vospominaniya. Moskva 2010.
Published in: "ARCHE pachatak" 11-2011, pp. 162-172.

Рецензия: Ростсислав Алиев: Брестская крепость. Документы и воспоминания. Москва 2010.
Опубликованна в "ARCHE пачатак" 11-2011, стр. 162-172.

"The Khatyn Massacre in Belorussia: A Historical Controversy Revisited," Holocaust and Genocide Studies 26:1 (2012): 29-58

by Per Anders Rudling

The distribution of wages in Belarus

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Alina Verashchagina.
Revised version published in: Comparative Economic Studies, 2006, 48 (3), 351-376.

This paper uncovers evidence on the distribution of wages in Belarus in the second half of the 1990s. The returns to... more This paper uncovers evidence on the distribution of wages in Belarus in the second half of the 1990s. The returns to education and work experience are high and stable. While the former is a typical finding of transition studies, the latter is not.
This might be due to the pervasive role of the state in fixing wages in the dominant budget sector, rather than to market forces coming into play. Women experience a small, though largely unexplained wage gap coupled with higher than average
returns to education. A wage curve effect is found, which is similar in size to that of other transition countries, but much higher than in market economies.

[Weißrussland] VerfGE vom 7.7.2011 zur Verfassungsmäßigkeit des Gesetzes „Über die Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit“

by Leonid Shmatenko

To be published

Das Gesetz der Republik Weißruss-land „Über die Schiedsgerichte“, wel-ches am 24.06.2011 von der Nationalversammlung... more Das Gesetz der Republik Weißruss-land „Über die Schiedsgerichte“, wel-ches am 24.06.2011 von der Nationalversammlung und am 30.06.2011 vom Senat der Nationalversammlung genehmigt worden ist, sollte zur Unterschrift beim Präsidenten vorgelegt werden. Jedoch bestanden Zweifel an der Verfassungsmäßigkeit von ebendiesem, weshalb es vor der Unterzeichnung durch den Präsidenten dem Verfassungsgericht (VerfG) vorgelegt worden ist.
Das Gesetz selbst regelt die Grün-dung und die Tätigkeit von nationalen Schiedsgerichten. Es enthält Voraussetzungen für den Abschluss von Schieds-vereinbarungen, die Regeln zur Füh-rung des Prozesses, so wie Regeln zur Vollstreckung von Schiedssprüchen . Hervorzuheben ist, dass dieses Gesetz lediglich für die nationale, jedoch nicht für die internationale Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit gilt.

How Soviet Was Russian Society Under Nazi Occupation? in: Claus-Christian Szejnmann (ed), Rethinking History, Dictatorship and War: New Approaches and Interpretations. London: Continuum, 2009

by Nicholas Terry

Evgenia Ivanova interviews Olga Karatch // Women in Politics: New Approaches to the Political, #1 (2012)

by Evgenia Ivanova

Olga Karatch is a Belarusian politician. She is the Vitebsk Region Chair of the United Civic Party of Belarus and a Board Member of the named Party. Olga is a Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the International Centre for Gender Initiatives "Adliga: Women for Full Citizenship". She is Chair of the International Centre of Civic Initiatives "Nash Dom". In 2008, Olga was awarded the title of "The Human Rights Activist of the Year" from the Belarusian Chapter of Amnesty International. She also received the International Award for Civil Courage in Germany in 2010.

On the 7th of October, 2011, during a press conference with Russian mass media, Mr. Lukashenko, the President of... more On the 7th of October, 2011, during a press conference with Russian mass media, Mr. Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, expressed his attitude towards the possibility of a woman becoming the President of Belarus. In particular, he said:

… I would not let a woman to take others' position, just for one reason. This is unsuitable for a woman, this is too hard, that is first of all. I, just like the President of Russia, is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. I just cannot imagine how a woman will be walking before the ranks, or will be at maneuvers… Of course now women can wear trousers, but it is still not the same. It is not women's business. In the European Union it is different, probably a woman can be a President there, but still it would look strange and unnatural. And they have different functions there, but they are a more representative kind, or like that. We are the opposite. Here we have to work hard, we have to run around, we have to stroll wide in order not to rip our pants in the seams, like that, and not other way. That is why it is not for women. Besides, we, Slavs, would not accept a woman as the President. It is a position for men, for men only, you truly would not want to be the President, it's a lot of troubles, a misfortune even, God save you from that. 

We asked a Belarusian politician, Olga Karatch, what does she think of this kind of care Mr. Lukashenko was expressing for female politicians.

Памяць і забыццё: ушанаванне герояў Брэсцкай крэпасці.

by Christian Ganzer

Published in:
Сіябган Дусэт, Андрэй Дынько, Алесь Пашкевіч (ред.): Вяртанне ў Еўропу: Мінулае і будучыня Беларусі. Варшава 2011.

(Кристиан Ганцер: Память и забвение: Культ героев в Брестской крепости) (Кристиан Ганцер: Память и забвение: Культ героев в Брестской крепости)

Remembering and Forgetting: Hero Veneration in the Brest Fortress

by Christian Ganzer

Published in:
Siobhan Doucette, Andrej Dynko, Ales Pashkevich (ed.): Returning to Europe. Belarus. Past and Future. Warsaw 2011.

P Perchoc, L'enseignement supérieur biélorussien en exil, Courrier des Pays de l'Est, 2006/5,

by Philippe Perchoc

En 1992 était créé à Minsk un établissement libre d’enseignement supérieur, l’Université européenne des sciences... more En 1992 était créé à Minsk un établissement libre d’enseignement supérieur, l’Université européenne des sciences humaines (European Humanities University-EHU). L’objectif de ses fondateurs était de contribuer à la renaissance des valeurs de la civilisation européenne en Biélorussie, en s’inscrivant dans le cadre de la transition entre le totalitarisme communiste et la...

Czy "legendarna twierdza" jest legendą? Oborona twierdzy brzeskiej w 1941 r. w świetle niemeckich i austriackich dokumentów archiwalnych.

by Christian Ganzer

In: Wspólne czy osobne? Miesca pamięci narodów Europy Wschodniej. Białystok/Kraków 2011, S. 37-47.

A short discussion on the duration of the fightings for the Brest fortress in June 1941 mainly on the basis an... more A short discussion on the duration of the fightings for the Brest fortress in June 1941 mainly on the basis an analysis of German losses and numbers of Soviet POWs.

Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation in the Slavic Triangle

by Helena Yakovlev Golani

Published in Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue canadienne des slavistes
Vol. LIII, Nos. 2–3–4, June-September-December 2011 / juin-septembre-décembre 2011, pp. 379-400.

This article focuses on the Russian Federation’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Belarus and Ukraine during the presidencies... more This article focuses on the Russian Federation’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Belarus and Ukraine during the presidencies of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. It addresses the question: Which specific factors influenced Russian foreign policy towards the aforementioned European states? The goals of the study are to illuminate these factors and to compare Russian foreign policy at the time of Yeltsin’s administration with that during Putin’s presidency. Russo-Ukrainian and Russo-Belarusian relations are analyzed using the method of structured focused comparison. The research examines presidential speeches, decision-makers’ memoirs, decisions or the absence thereof, and official declarations of the Russian government towards Ukraine and Belarus, as well as official agreements and empirical reality that exemplify the implementation of Russia’s foreign policy. The empirical analysis reveals that geopolitical considerations, threat perception, interest groups, and decision-makers’ perception of the past influenced the formation of Russia’s foreign policy. Perception of the past, however, is fundamental to the understanding of this process.

The Determinants of Female Labour Supply in Belarus

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Alina Verashchagina, in Ravi Kanbur and Jan Svejnar (2009, eds.), Labour Markets and Economic Development, Routledge, London (also available as IZA dp, n. 3457).

Unlike in many other transition countries, where the gender pay gap has remained stable while female employment rates... more Unlike in many other transition countries, where the gender pay gap has remained stable while female employment rates have reduced, in the case of Belarus women’ activity rate has been practically unchanged despite an increase in the gender pay gap. This paper investigates why this is the case by looking at the determinants of female labour force participation in 1996 and 2001 (data from the Belarusian Household Survey). The selectivity corrected wage equation is estimated to compute an expected wage offer for women. The latter is included, in the second step, as a regressor in the structural female labour supply equation, estimated by probit. Several measures for the care of children and elderly people, proxies for the opportunity cost of working, affect female participation, but do not generate sample selection mechanisms. The estimated elasticity of female participation to wages is low, at about 0.45 in 1996 and 0.41 in 2001. Moreover the data allows detecting poverty trap mechanisms, whereas women in low-income households have much lower than average participation rates. At the same time the elasticity of female labour supply with respect to the own wage appears to be much higher for the low-paid groups of women.

Zametki po istorii Kubani (materialy dlya khrestomatii)

by Sergei Rjabchikov

Rjabchikov, S.V., 2011. Zametki po istorii Kubani (materialy dlya khrestomatii) [Notes on the History of the Kuban Land (Materials for a Reading-Book); in Russian]. Visnik Mizhnarodnogo doslidnogo tsentru "Lyudina: mova, kul'tura, piznannya", 30(3): 25-45.
Рябчиков, С.В., 2011. Заметки по истории Кубани (материалы для хрестоматии) // Вiсник Мiжнародного дослiдного центру "Людина: мова, культура, пiзнання", N 30(3): 25-45.

Keywords: Rjabchikov, history, Russia, USSR, Krasnodar, Yekaterinodar, Kuban, the Kuban land, the Krasnodar region,... more Keywords: Rjabchikov, history, Russia, USSR, Krasnodar, Yekaterinodar, Kuban, the Kuban land, the Krasnodar region, crimes of Soviet and Nazi special services, VChK (later NKVD, KGB), Gestapo, the communist ideology, Рябчиков, история, Россия, СССР, Советский союз, Краснодар, Екатеринодар, Кубань, Кубанская область, Краснодарский край, преступления советских и нацистских спецслужб, ВЧК (позднее НКВД, КГБ), Гестапо, коммунистическая идеология

"Terror and Local Collaboration in Occupied Belarus: The Case of Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118. Part I: Background," Nicolae Iorga Historical Yearbook, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Vol. VIII (2011): 195-214.

by Per Anders Rudling